Role of material properties and mesostructure on dynamic deformation and shear instability in Al-W granular composites

Dynamic experiments with Al-W granular/porous composites revealed qualitatively different behavior with respect to shear localization depending on bonding between Al particles. Two-dimensional numerical modeling was used to explore the mesomechanics of the large strain dynamic deformation in Al-W granular/porous composites and explain the experimentally observed differences in shear localization between composites with various mesostructures. Specifically, the bonding between the Al particles, the porosity, the roles of the relative particle sizes of Al and W, the arrangements of the W particles, and the material properties of Al were investigated using numerical calculations. It was demonstrated in simulations that the bonding between the "soft" Al particles facilitated shear localization as seen in the experiments. Numerical calculations and experiments revealed that the mechanism of the shear localization in granular composites is mainly due to the local high strain flow of "soft" Al around the "rigid" W particles causing localized damage accumulation and subsequent growth of the meso/macro shear bands/cracks. The "rigid" W particles were the major geometrical factor determining the initiation and propagation of "kinked" shear bands in the matrix of "soft" Al particles, leaving some areas free of extensive plastic deformation as observed in experiments and numerical calculations.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Journal of Applied Physic

The AMANDA Neutrino Telescope and the Indirect Search for Dark Matter

With an effective telescope area of order 10^4 m^2, a threshold of ~50 GeV and a pointing accuracy of 2.5 degrees, the AMANDA detector represents the first of a new generation of high energy neutrino telescopes, reaching a scale envisaged over 25 years ago. We describe its performance, focussing on the capability to detect halo dark matter particles via their annihilation into neutrinos.Comment: Latex2.09, 16 pages, uses epsf.sty to place 15 postscript figures. Talk presented at the 3rd International Symposium on Sources and Detection of Dark Matter in the Universe (DM98), Santa Monica, California, Feb. 199

An in vivo culture system for human embryos using an encapsulation technology: a pilot study

BACKGROUND Animal studies have demonstrated better embryo development in vivo than in vitro. This pilot study tested the feasibility of using a novel in utero culture system (IUCS) to obtain normal human fertilization and embryo development. METHODS The IUCS device comprised a perforated silicone hollow tube. The study included 13 patients (<36 years) undergoing a first intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment and 167 metaphase II oocytes in three groups. In Group 1, 1-2 h after ICSI, sibling oocytes were assigned to IUCS or conventional in vitro culture. The device was retrieved on Day 1, and all zygotes were cultured in vitro till Day 5. In Group 2, fertilized oocytes were assigned on Day 1, embryos retrieved on Day 3 and all embryos cultured till Day 5. In Group 3, after Day 0 assignment, embryos were retrieved on Day 3 for blastomere biopsy and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and cultured until Day 5. The highest quality blastocysts were transferred on Day 5. RESULTS Fertilization and embryo development were comparable in the in vitro and IUCS arms, with a tendency towards better embryo quality in the IUCS. FISH analysis in Group 3 revealed more normal embryos using the IUCS (P = 0.049). Three clinical pregnancies and live births were obtained: two from the IUCS arm and one from the in vitro arm. CONCLUSIONS Our pilot study shows that this new IUCS appears to be feasible and safe, supporting normal fertilization, embryo development and normal chromosomal segregation. Furthermore, live births are possible after the transient presence of a silicone device in the uterus.Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT0048010

Analysis of a diffusive effective mass model for nanowires

We propose in this paper to derive and analyze a self-consistent model describing the diffusive transport in a nanowire. From a physical point of view, it describes the electron transport in an ultra-scaled confined structure, taking in account the interactions of charged particles with phonons. The transport direction is assumed to be large compared to the wire section and is described by a drift-diffusion equation including effective quantities computed from a Bloch problem in the crystal lattice. The electrostatic potential solves a Poisson equation where the particle density couples on each energy band a two dimensional confinement density with the monodimensional transport density given by the Boltzmann statistics. On the one hand, we study the derivation of this Nanowire Drift-Diffusion Poisson model from a kinetic level description. On the other hand, we present an existence result for this model in a bounded domain

Optical Properties of Deep Ice at the South Pole - Absorption

We discuss recent measurements of the wavelength-dependent absorption coefficients in deep South Pole ice. The method uses transit time distributions of pulses from a variable-frequency laser sent between emitters and receivers embedded in the ice. At depths of 800 to 1000 m scattering is dominated by residual air bubbles, whereas absorption occurs both in ice itself and in insoluble impurities. The absorption coefficient increases approximately exponentially with wavelength in the measured interval 410 to 610 nm. At the shortest wavelength our value is about a factor 20 below previous values obtained for laboratory ice and lake ice; with increasing wavelength the discrepancy with previous measurements decreases. At around 415 to 500 nm the experimental uncertainties are small enough for us to resolve an extrinsic contribution to absorption in ice: submicron dust particles contribute by an amount that increases with depth and corresponds well with the expected increase seen near the Last Glacial Maximum in Vostok and Dome C ice cores. The laser pulse method allows remote mapping of gross structure in dust concentration as a function of depth in glacial ice.Comment: 26 pages, LaTex, Accepted for publication in Applied Optics. 9 figures, not included, available on request from [email protected]

The AMANDA Neutrino Telescope: Principle of Operation and First Results

AMANDA is a high-energy neutrino telescope presently under construction at the geographical South Pole. In the Antarctic summer 1995/96, an array of 80 optical modules (OMs) arranged on 4 strings (AMANDA-B4) was deployed at depths between 1.5 and 2 km. In this paper we describe the design and performance of the AMANDA-B4 prototype, based on data collected between February and November 1996. Monte Carlo simulations of the detector response to down-going atmospheric muon tracks show that the global behavior of the detector is understood. We describe the data analysis method and present first results on atmospheric muon reconstruction and separation of neutrino candidates. The AMANDA array was upgraded with 216 OMs on 6 new strings in 1996/97 (AMANDA-B10), and 122 additional OMs on 3 strings in 1997/98.Comment: 36 pages, 23 figures, submitted to Astroparticle Physic

‘O sibling, where art thou?’ – a review of avian sibling recognition with respect to the mammalian literature

Avian literature on sibling recognition is rare compared to that developed by mammalian researchers. We compare avian and mammalian research on sibling recognition to identify why avian work is rare, how approaches differ and what avian and mammalian researchers can learn from each other. Three factors: (1) biological differences between birds and mammals, (2) conceptual biases and (3) practical constraints, appear to influence our current understanding. Avian research focuses on colonial species because sibling recognition is considered adaptive where ‘mixing potential’ of dependent young is high; research on a wider range of species, breeding systems and ecological conditions is now needed. Studies of acoustic recognition cues dominate avian literature; other types of cues (e.g. visual, olfactory) deserve further attention. The effect of gender on avian sibling recognition has yet to be investigated; mammalian work shows that gender can have important influences. Most importantly, many researchers assume that birds recognise siblings through ‘direct familiarisation’ (commonly known as associative learning or familiarity); future experiments should also incorporate tests for ‘indirect familiarisation’ (commonly known as phenotype matching). If direct familiarisation proves crucial, avian research should investigate how periods of separation influence sibling discrimination. Mammalian researchers typically interpret sibling recognition in broad functional terms (nepotism, optimal outbreeding); some avian researchers more successfully identify specific and testable adaptive explanations, with greater relevance to natural contexts. We end by reporting exciting discoveries from recent studies of avian sibling recognition that inspire further interest in this topic

Search for Point Sources of High Energy Neutrinos with AMANDA

This paper describes the search for astronomical sources of high-energy neutrinos using the AMANDA-B10 detector, an array of 302 photomultiplier tubes, used for the detection of Cherenkov light from upward traveling neutrino-induced muons, buried deep in ice at the South Pole. The absolute pointing accuracy and angular resolution were studied by using coincident events between the AMANDA detector and two independent telescopes on the surface, the GASP air Cherenkov telescope and the SPASE extensive air shower array. Using data collected from April to October of 1997 (130.1 days of livetime), a general survey of the northern hemisphere revealed no statistically significant excess of events from any direction. The sensitivity for a flux of muon neutrinos is based on the effective detection area for through-going muons. Averaged over the Northern sky, the effective detection area exceeds 10,000 m^2 for E_{mu} ~ 10 TeV. Neutrinos generated in the atmosphere by cosmic ray interactions were used to verify the predicted performance of the detector. For a source with a differential energy spectrum proportional to E_{nu}^{-2} and declination larger than +40 degrees, we obtain E^2(dN_{nu}/dE) <= 10^{-6}GeVcm^{-2}s^{-1} for an energy threshold of 10 GeV.Comment: 46 pages, 22 figures, 4 tables, submitted to Ap.